Judge rules against Brittany Chase owners over condo board election

Meaghan Kelly, a Brittany Chase townhouse owner, points to structural problems with the foundation of her home in Wayne.
Marko Georgiev/NorthJersey.com

State Superior Court Judge Randal Chiocca, sitting in Paterson, delivers his ruling against a group of owners of the Brittany Chase condo complex on Tuesday.(Photo11: Philip DeVencentis/NorthJersey.com)

Voters appointed by proxy at the Brittany Chase condo complex in Wayne do not have the right to conduct any business before the condo board, other than to cast ballots in this week's election, a state Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday.

The decision, handed down by Judge Randal Chiocca in Paterson, was a blow to some unit owners, who planned for a proxy-holder they delegated to elect two candidates to the board on their behalf and to call for a special meeting in January to remove other board members from office.

Many owners at the troubled complex appointed one man, Gopinath Sathyanarayanan, to be their proxy, and they hoped he could initiate the removal of three board members.

But, the judge ruled, that move would overstep the proxy-holder’s authority.

"To bootstrap, or try to utilize, the proxy as a mechanism to ultimately put issues before membership at the meeting — I'm not going to issue a mandatory injunction on the board to honor the proxy in that manner," the judge ruled.

Attorney Robert Griffin, who represents the condo association, said he was pleased with the result of Tuesday's hearing.

"The only thing important to us is that unit owners know what's being considered at the meeting and have an opportunity to vote on it," Griffin said. "We can't abide by a small group of owners hijacking the meeting."

The board's election will take place at its annual meeting on Thursday. Newcomers Gerard O'Neill and Francine Ritter have challenged board members Jack Boydell and Linda DiMezza for a pair of two-year terms.

The assessment was delayed until next year, but the board's perceived mishandling of it stoked so much anger in the community that the effort by "Wake Up, Brittany Chase" to oust all five sitting board members grew more cohesive.

After arguing through email about the election procedure with Griffin's law partner, Ritter and her boyfriend, Bill Brennan, filed a restraining order to compel the board to permit Sathyanarayanan, the de facto leader of "Wake Up, Brittany Chase," to use proxies he collected to call for a special meeting.

The entrance to Brittany Chase, a complex of 395 condominiums and town houses, off Berdan Avenue in Wayne.(Photo11: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com)

Brennan, a personality known in New Jersey for sharp critiques of former Gov. Chris Christie, argued the case before the judge.

"They're indicating they want to cloak this in secrecy," Brennan told the judge about the condo board. "We want the light of day to be the strong disinfectant to what we believe are serious improprieties going on. They're obstructing us in every way."

The judge said proxy-holders can use proxies they collect only to vote in the election, but he did not rule if the same proxies can used to form a quorum at the annual meeting.

Although the judge did not rule on that issue, Griffin said on the record that proxies would count toward a quorum. It was a critical point raised by Brennan in court because he and other supporters of "Wake Up, Brittany Chase" believe Sathyanarayanan holds enough proxies to achieve a quorum on his own.

“We can't abide by a small group of owners hijacking the meeting.”

Robert Griffin, attorney for Brittany Chase condo association

And, Brennan said, the condo association's bylaws allow owners to make demands of the board during the meeting, if there is a quorum.

Brennan said he sees that as a victory for his team, leading into Thursday's election.

"They can no longer say, 'No quorum, no business,' " Brennan said after the hearing. "Because if they do, they lied to the judge."